Insights into the mechanisms involved in the evolution of the structural and physicochemical properties of tomato during air drying - A study combining MRI, unilateral NMR and conventional techniques.

Most fruits and vegetables have high water content, making them highly perishable. Drying preserves them by reducing water content, slowing microbial activity and chemical spoilage. It also enhances product range and reduces transport and storage costs.

A Comparative Study of Traditional Sun Drying and Hybrid Solar Drying on Quality, Safety, and Bioactive Compounds in "Pingo de Mel" Fig.

Figs are highly perishable, with significant losses due to overripening or failure to meet market standards. Drying is essential to extending their shelf life and reducing food waste. This study evaluated the impact of traditional sun drying and hybrid solar drying on the quality of dried "Pingo de Mel" figs.

Impact of conventional and innovative processing conditions on organoleptic and nutritional properties of applesauce from organic and conventional production systems.

The impact of cultivar and production system was studied over two years on organoleptic and nutritional characteristics of apple fruits and then, on purees processed with both conventional convection cooking under vacuum and fast innovative microwave cooking. The main factors affecting the content and composition of sugars, organic acids, volatiles, polyphenols, and fibre were in the decreasing order, cultivar, year, and production system. Regarding processing, the fast innovative microwave cooking led to puree with a higher viscosity but with a lower polyphenol content compared to the convection cooking.

Does hydration of 'Deglet Nour' date palm fruits improve their quality and help to reduce waste?

This work investigates the quality change of date palm fruits after hydration treatment which is commonly applied to enhance the hard textured 'Deglet Nour' fruits that are unacceptable for consumption. Date palm fruits were treated at 60-62 °C with saturated steam for 4 h in three different processing units (DPU). Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR) giving a global spectral evaluation discriminates samples from the three DPUs and highlights date palm fruits of the first DPU regarding hydration treatment.

A-type proanthocyanidins: Sources, structure, bioactivity, processing, nutrition, and potential applications.

A-type proanthocyanidins (PAs) are a subgroup of PAs that differ from B-type PAs by the presence of an ether bond between two consecutive constitutive units. This additional C-O-C bond gives them a more stable and hydrophobic character. They are of increasing interest due to their potential multiple nutritional effects with low toxicity in food processing and supplement development.

Plant leaf proanthocyanidins: from agricultural production by-products to potential bioactive molecules.

Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are a class of polymers composed of flavan-3-ol units that have a variety of bioactivities, and could be applied as natural biologics in food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. PAs are widely found in fruit and vegetables (F&Vegs) and are generally extracted from their flesh and peel. To reduce the cost of extraction and increase the number of commercially viable sources of PAs, it is possible to exploit the by-products of plants.

Experimental and theoretical investigation on interactions between xylose-containing hemicelluloses and procyanidins.

During processing of plant-based foods, cell wall polysaccharides and polyphenols, such as procyanidins, interact extensively, thereby affecting their physicochemical properties along with their potential health effects. Although hemicelluloses are second only to pectins in affinity for procyanidins in cell walls, a detailed study of their interactions lacks. We investigated the interactions between representative xylose-containing water-soluble hemicelluloses and procyanidins.

Reactivity of flavanols: Their fate in physical food processing and recent advances in their analysis by depolymerization.

Flavanols, a subgroup of polyphenols, are secondary metabolites with antioxidant properties naturally produced in various plants (e.g., green tea, cocoa, grapes, and apples); they are a major polyphenol class in human foods and beverages, and have recognized effect on maintaining human health.

Revisiting the contribution of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to characterize plant cell wall polysaccharides.

The contribution of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to study cell wall polysaccharides (CWPs) was carefully investigated. The region 1800-800 cm was exploited using principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering on a large range of different powders of CWPs based on their precise chemical characterization. Relevant wavenumbers were highlighted for each CWP: 1035 cm was attributed to xylose-containing hemicelluloses, 1065 and 807 cm to mannose-containing hemicelluloses, 988 cm to cellulose, 1740 and 1600 cm to homogalacturonans according to the degree of methylation.

Interactions between cell wall polysaccharides and polyphenols: Effect of molecular internal structure.

Cell wall polysaccharides (CPSs) and polyphenols are major constituents of the dietary fiber complex in plant-based foods. Their digestion (by gut microbiota) and bioefficacy depend not only on their structure and quantity, but also on their intermolecular interactions. The composition and structure of these compounds vary with their dietary source (i.

Iron-induced peroxidation of trilinolein nano-emulsions under model gastric conditions and its inhibition by dietary phenolic antioxidants.

An early mechanism for the health benefits of dietary plant phenols is their antioxidant activity in the upper digestive tract. Indeed, these non-essential micronutrients abundant in fruits and vegetables can efficiently fight the iron-induced peroxidation of dietary lipids in the gastric compartment, a recognized form of postprandial oxidative stress. In this work, this phenomenon is investigated through a simple model based on nano-emulsions of trilinoleylglycerol, which permits a direct spectroscopic monitoring and mechanistic insights sustained by extensive kinetic analysis.

Changes in cell wall neutral sugar composition related to pectinolytic enzyme activities and intra-flesh textural property during ripening of ten apricot clones.

The changes of texture and cell wall characteristics of apricot were investigated in ten clones at two maturity stages. Fruit firmness, cell wall composition and enzyme activity of three apricot flesh zones were analysed. The AIS (alcohol-insoluble solids) were characterised by high amounts of uronic acid (179-300 mg g AIS) and relatively high amounts of cellulosic glucose (118-214 mg g AIS).

Multiscale Localization of Procyanidins in Ripe and Overripe Perry Pears by Light and Transmission Electron Microscopy.

Histochemical staining with 4-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMACA), light microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to characterize procyanidin localization at ripe and overripe stages in perry pear flesh (cv. 'De Cloche'). Pear flesh contained stone cell clusters surrounded by very large parenchyma cells.

Effects of the apple matrix on the postprandial bioavailability of flavan-3-ols and nutrigenomic response of apple polyphenols in minipigs challenged with a high fat meal.

Food matrix interactions with polyphenols can affect their bioavailability and as a consequence may modulate their biological effects. The aim of this study was to determine if the matrix and its processing would modulate the bioavailability and the postprandial nutrigenomic response to a dietary inflammatory stress of apple flavan-3-ol monomers. We carried out an acute randomized controlled study in minipigs challenged with a high fat meal (HFM) supplemented with raw fruit, puree, or apple phenolic extract with matched content of flavan-3-ol monomers.

Interactions of arabinan-rich pectic polysaccharides with polyphenols.

Given the high prevalence of arabinan side chains in pectic polysaccharides, this work aims to unveil the impact of their structural diversity on pectic polysaccharides-polyphenol interactions. To assess the effect of arabinan branching degree, sugar beet arabinans (branched and debranched) were used and compared to the well-known structure of apple arabinan and other pectic polysaccharides. Furthermore, arabinans contribution to pectic polysaccharides/polyphenol interactions was assessed.

Soil Photosynthetic Microbial Communities Mediate Aggregate Stability: Influence of Cropping Systems and Herbicide Use in an Agricultural Soil.

Unlabelled: Edaphic cyanobacteria and algae have been extensively studied in dryland soils because they play key roles in the formation of biological soil crusts and the stabilization of soil surfaces. Yet, in temperate agricultural crop soils, little is understood about the functional significance of indigenous photosynthetic microbial communities for various soil processes. This study investigated how indigenous soil algae and cyanobacteria affected topsoil aggregate stability in cereal cropping systems.

Impact of air-drying on polyphenol extractability from apple pomace.

Little data are available on the impact of pomace pre-treatment, notably drying, on the nature and yield of polyphenols. Pomace from two apple varieties ('Avrolles' and 'Kermerrien'), pressed with and without oxidation, were air-dried to different degrees. Drying led to the loss of native molecules, notably 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid and flavan-3-ols.

Revisiting the chemistry of apple pomace polyphenols.

Hot water is an easily implementable process for polyphenols extraction. To evaluate the effect of this process on apple pomace, the overall polyphenolic composition was assessed before and after hot water extraction, followed by extractions with aqueous/organic solutions. As determined by UHPLC-DAD, flavan-3-ols were the main apple native polyphenols.

Procyanidin-Cell Wall Interactions within Apple Matrices Decrease the Metabolization of Procyanidins by the Human Gut Microbiota and the Anti-Inflammatory Effect of the Resulting Microbial Metabolome In Vitro.

B-type oligomeric procyanidins in apples constitute an important source of polyphenols in the human diet. Their role in health is not known, although it is suggested that they generate beneficial bioactive compounds upon metabolization by the gut microbiota. During apple processing, procyanidins interact with cell-wall polysaccharides and form stable complexes.

ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to determine cell wall composition: Application on a large diversity of fruits and vegetables.

Infrared spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analyses such as linear regressions was applied to assess the main cell wall components of a huge diversity of fruits and vegetables belonging to 29 plant species. The methodology was tested on the raw freeze-dried powders and on their corresponding AIS (Alcohol Insoluble Solids) dried by solvent exchanges. The most informative spectral region was 1750-1035 cm.

Pear ripeness and tissue type impact procyanidin-cell wall interactions.

Procyanidins and cell walls were extracted from pear at ripe and overripe stages in order to investigate the impact of ripening stage on their association. Procyanidin composition and structure remained stable at the overripe stage. Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR) discriminated cell wall-procyanidin complex from initial purified cell wall material (CWM).

Impact of canning and storage on apricot carotenoids and polyphenols.

Apricot polyphenols and carotenoids were monitored after industrial and domestic cooking, and after 2months of storage for industrial processing. The main apricot polyphenols were flavan-3-ols, flavan-3-ol monomers and oligomers, with an average degree of polymerization between 4.7 and 10.

Characterization and quantification of fruit phenolic compounds of European and Tunisian pear cultivars.

The flesh and peel of 19 pear cultivars (8 Tunisian dessert cultivars, 8 European dessert cultivars and 3 French perry pear cultivars) were studied for their phenolic composition. Phenolic compounds were identified by HPLC/ESI-MS and individually quantified by HPLC-DAD. Five classes of polyphenols were present: flavan-3-ols, phenolic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins and simple phenolics (hydroquinones).